Good thorough review GW.

The secret to a dado stack... other than a decent set of blades and not the budget ones is to measure your requirement then flat stack the blades with the shims till you reach your goal.
Even for my Freud, I use my 'pecker's Dado Set-Up Fixture,


however, for the frugal ones out there, you can make your own as long as you ideally have a bolt/nut combo with the same size as your tablesaw spindle so you can crank your blades with the shims together tightly like on the TS. 

If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD